Johnson stared at her, voice small and raw. "Do you love me with the kind of personality I have?"
Rose did not hesitate. She tilted her face up toward the dying sun and answered without drama, the light softening her features. "Who says I do not? I love and value you deeply, even though you do not see it. How can you, when you do not value yourself?" She let the words hang there, then added, quieter, "True love starts from oneself in every relationship."
Curiosity softened Johnson's guarded tone. "Well if you say you love me, what would you love about me?"
Rose took his face in both hands and held him like someone steadying a fragile thing. "I love everything about you Johnny," she said. "Sometimes you say the dumbest things. Sometimes you act unloved or behave weird. But the thing is everything about you, both your dumb side and your smart and kind side, it is what makes you human. I do not want or need you to be perfect. I just want this version of you to see and understand that the people around you care, and that you should love yourself." She squeezed his cheeks, teasing now, because she could not help herself. "Also my brother should get a girlfriend."
A grateful smile flickered across Johnson's face, then something harder returned. "I am grateful for everything you feel for me, but I do not like myself. I will not like myself. I have never liked myself and I can never like myself. Instead of hating the world for my problems I prefer to hate myself and blame myself for all its flaws so that I can save and change the world around me." He stood up then, firmness undercut by a brittle edge.
Rose wrapped her arms around him until he could not move. "But if you think like that your mind will break. You will lose yourself and destroy the things you want to protect." Her voice shook. "I do not want to lose my big brother and I do not want you to lose your mind." Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and then fell.
Something in Johnson softened completely. His dark hair caught the last light of the day as he let himself feel something that was not centered on his own pain. His eyes widened with an unfamiliar, almost sacred tenderness. He brushed a trembling hand through Rose's hair. "My mind has already been broken so it can never break," he said. "I do not want a mind or a heart that will break. In other words I believe it has been broken. I do not think I will lose or destroy the things I want to protect. But if it ever comes to that, if I start to want to destroy the world or hurt those I love, I want you, my sister, to stop me because only you can." He paused and lifted her tear streaked chin until she met his gaze. "I love you very much," he said. "Even if you do not love me back, I love you because I want to. I promise to do everything in my power to protect you."
Rose swallowed and the question that had been gnawing in her chest came out small and sharp. "What if you cannot? You will not always be with me. What if something happens to me? If I die or you lose me, what will you do?"
"I... I do not know what I would do," Johnson admitted, and for the first time the uncertainty in his voice felt honest rather than performative. He placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to smile. "But I promise to protect you with every single atom of my body, okay?"
Rose steadied herself with a little laugh of courage. "Umm okay. I too will protect you and make sure I never lose you in the best way I can. But if I ever come to lose myself I want you to stop me." She spoke the last with a vow in it, fierce and certain.
They stayed like that until a familiar voice cut through the warmth and pulled them back to the present. "Hate to break the moment you guys are having but are you not supposed to be at Star clinic today to visit someone?" Mary asked as she stepped into the backyard.
Johnson scrambled to his feet. "Crap I forgot. It is almost six. Can we go today? We will come back early, please."
Mary smiled and shook her head. "Alright. Be fast. We need dinner and sleep early for tomorrow morning." She waved them along and the afternoon dissolved as they exited, the memory folding away, the scene had shifted back to the present. Johnson was kneeling in the rain, clutching Rose in his arms, his tears mixing with the heavy downpour.
"Rose, Rose, Rose! Wake up!" Johnson cried, shaking her desperately.
"Big brother… I don't think I can make it." Rose's trembling hand reached up to touch his tear-streaked face as she coughed out blood.
"Stop talking like that. You will make it!" Johnson's voice broke as he grabbed a cellphone from a bystander and quickly dialed 911.
"Hello, this is 911. What is your emergency?" came the operator's voice.
"Hello, I'm at the center of Voyage City, where Star Clinic was destroyed a few minutes ago. Can you please send help? My sister is seriously injured!" Johnson's voice cracked with desperation.
"Is this a prank? What is wrong with kids these days? I'm tired of all these prank calls," the responder snapped angrily.
"What do you mean?! It's not a prank! Please help me, my sister is going to die!" Johnson shouted, panic shaking every word.
"Take her to the hospital in Hub City or Smart City, then. A dark-haired boy supposedly saved everyone from danger during that fight against the xenomorphic creature. No one was hurt. And besides, you don't sound rich. Energy fuel is expensive—we can't waste it on someone not worth our time." The line went dead.
Johnson froze, the phone slipping from his hand.
"Hey, is that a movie shoot?" a bystander asked.
"I don't see any cameras, but the actors are so young and so good. Look at that raw emotion," another commented as more people gathered.
"They're really good. Let's record this moment. I'm not losing likes and followers. I'll boost it on iChat and Twitter."
"Yeah, me too." Phones came up, and soon the scene was being streamed live.
Johnson's face twisted with despair. His blood ran cold as he remembered his promise with Rose. "Rose, wake up! You promised to protect me, remember!" he sobbed, clutching her.
"Don't cry, you idiot. I'm not dead yet. You promised you'd be strong for me, okay?" she coughed again, blood staining her lips. With her last strength, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I love you, my sweet big brother. No matter what, always know that you are loved." Her voice faded as she lost consciousness.
Johnson's blood turned colder than ice. His eyes widened as the thing he feared most came true. "Rose… Rose, wake up!" He shook her, but she did not respond.
"Ahhhhhhhhh! Why must this happen to me? Why! God, why do you hate me so much!" His scream tore through the rain.
"Wow, he's crying… I'm so touched," a woman whispered through tears as she live-streamed, gaining millions of viewers.
"Don't you people just stand there! Help us! Please, I beg you...I'll do anything! Please, save my little sister!" Johnson pleaded, looking up at the crowd.
"Wow, a fourth wall break. He's talking to us, the audience. That's very powerful," another bystander said, almost amused.
Johnson's face contorted with pain. "Is this how it is? Like I'm some kind of story or book? My life nothing more than an amusing chapter for you? Do you enjoy reading about me...watching me suffer day by day?" His voice broke as he cried into the rain, his hair turning grey with grief. "Everyone around me hates me. Nobody wants to help me. They just see me as amusement ... Including my author, the readers, and even you here recording me instead of helping. Oh God, I know you hate me, but please… do me this one favor. Save my sister. Give me the power not to lose anyone again!"
"I'm so touched by this. I can't stop crying… He's blaming everybody, including us who are watching him, while still passing his life energy to his sister in a futile attempt to save her. How selfless. How sweet. How lovely," another bystander said through tears.
Johnson's voice echoed in his own heart. I'm not blaming anyone. I blame myself. It's my fault. I shouldn't have come to the hospital, but if I didn't, people would have died. I'm weak, useless, irresponsible. I wasn't fast enough to fight in her place. It's my fault… and for this, I hate myself.
"Please, God, give me the power to save my sister. Let me stop this from ever happening again. I promise to use it to protect those around me. Or if you hate my existence, at least send someone...anyone...to save her!" he cried out in anguish.
Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the chaos. "I didn't know you were a crying little boy." A figure appeared, teleporting before him, her limiters removed as her scarlet aura glowed brilliantly.
"Save my sister…" Johnson whispered as his body collapsed, and the light around him faded.